Author: Roberta Closter
Unit: 10th grade Genetics

Title: Lets Make Some DNA!!


Lesson Overview:

Today we are going to conduct a lab to help us understand base pairing and replication by making our own DNA. Students will conduct a pre-lab quiz before we begin to make our DNA. As students conduct their lab they will have questions to answer to make them think about what they are doing instead of just going through the motions or playing.

Objectives:

Students will be able to pair nucleotide bases
Students will be able to construct DNA
Students will be able to explain how DNA replicates

Materials:

Pre-lab quiz
Lab 1
Modeling Clay
Toothpicks in 4 different colors
Pop beads for amino acids
Pipe cleaners for tRNA


Links to Resources:

Pre-lab Quiz


Lab 1- "Let's Make Some DNA"


Safety Issues:

Toothpicks

Instruction:

Opening:
Students will be given a pre-lab quiz to see if they read the lab beforehand (5 mins). Then they will make their own DNA using clay, toothpicks, beads and pipe cleaners.
Learning Activities:
Students will make their DNA based on their knowledge of DNA structure and base pairing and answer questions as they follow their procedure. There will be 7 questions to complete along the way that will be collected and graded at the end of the period. (35 minutes)
Closing:
Students will hand in their questions from lab and I will go over what we did in class today. I will remind them of their current events homework and allow them to focus on that for tonight's homework.

Assessment:

Questions completed during lab today.

Homework:

Work on current event for Friday.

Additional Notes